All of the knobs have a metal stem underneath for added rigidity. The EQ knobs are all rubberized while the rest of the knobs for Trim, Mic control, Cue control, and Volume controls are all harder plastic. All of the buttons for CUE, Fader Start, and Effects have a backlit to them and are made up of hard plastic. There are sturdy in-set switches that control the fader functions while the metal stem style toggle switches at the top are to switch between the different input options for each channel. The front of the mixer is completely blank so that the DJ can leave the mixer “installed” without making adjustments (or plugging in headphones) on the front. The single quarter-inch headphone output is on the bottom-left of the top panel with the Cue volume and Cue/Master Mix knobs right above. The MIC 1 input and USB connection are all on the top panel of the mixer as well.
The Pioneer DJM-850 mixer is also Traktor Scratch Certified. This means that DJ’s can plug in up to four different timecode style decks (CD decks/Vinyl decks) for full Digital Vinyl System playback using Traktor Pro without the need for an additional Traktor style DJ soundcard. It’s almost like having a full featured Traktor Audio 10 interface built right into the mixer. All the DJ must do is purchase the Traktor Scratch upgrade package in order to get the necessary Timecode CD’s and Vinyl to start mixing digital music from your computer directly onto your CD style decks or vinyl turntables. DJ’s can also use the mixer to spin using all four virtual decks with no external decks at all. All of the mixing functions, effects, and sound will still be active and it gives DJ’s a more hands-on approach to mixing than with simply using a computer.
The internal soundcard on the DJM-850 produces professional studio-grade sound and the DVS playback using turntables and CD decks was flawless. There was virtually no delay or latency using the timecode playback and the Traktor Scratch functions worked nicely in conjunction with the cool effects found on-board the DJM-850. This is obviously a huge selling point of the mixer and especially useful to mobile Traktor DJ’s who don’t want to lug around an additional piece of hardware when traveling from gig to gig. Everyone knows that Pioneer is Legendary for their club installation sound quality and the DJM-850 is no different.